Doctor Emily MacDonagh, the wife of singer Peter Andre, has publicly revealed that she is currently battling shingles. The 36-year-old medical professional shared a candid video on social media this Friday, discussing her painful symptoms and offering health advice to her followers.
Unexpected Diagnosis and Painful Symptoms
In her post, Emily penned a health update, writing: 'A little health update, this week I was unexpectedly diagnosed with shingles. So I thought I’d do a quick video to explain what it is, in the hope it helps raise awareness for anyone who might not be familiar.'
Wearing a pink woolen jumper, she described her experience in the video: 'I noticed a pain and just odd sensations under my arm here and then a couple of days later the rash appeared on my back on one side.'
She continued: 'It's definitely not something I expected to be dealing with, but hopefully sharing this does raise some awareness.' The busy mother signed off her clip by saying: 'As for me, I'm kind of hoping to start feeling better soon and back to myself. I hope that is helpful, stay well everyone.'
Flood of Well Wishes from Fans
Emily was immediately flooded with supportive messages from fans and followers. One comment read: 'Wishing you a very speedy recovery Emily and thankyou for the info on shingles.' Others added: 'Hope you get well soon Doc'; 'Thank you for sharing and get well soon'; and 'Get well soon Emily. I have had this 3 times in the last year it’s painful.'
Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is a member of the herpes family. Most people contract this virus as children, where it manifests as chickenpox. Once infected, the virus remains dormant in the body but can reactivate if the immune system becomes temporarily weakened, leading to the painful condition of shingles.
Family Life and Parenting Philosophy
Emily married the Mysterious Girl singer Peter Andre in 2015. The couple have three children together: Millie, aged 12, Theo, aged nine, and Arabella, who is one year old. Peter also shares two older children, Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, with his ex-wife Katie Price.
Despite his two oldest children growing up in the public spotlight, Peter and Emily have made a conscious decision to keep their younger children out of the public eye as much as possible.
Stingy Approach to Pocket Money
Earlier this month, Emily admitted that she and Peter are quite 'stingy' when it comes to giving pocket money to their children. They provide just 50p for completing chores around the house.
Speaking in an Instagram video, she explained: 'You might have seen a video I did recently where Millie was doing some chores for me and Pete and earning a bit of extra pocket money. There were some really great comments on the video. I asked people, 'what do you do with your kids?', 'how do you do pocket money?', 'do you make them do chores?' and I got some really great responses, so I thought I'd make a video about it again and just see what everyone thinks.'
She detailed their system: 'The kids have their own bank accounts and they have a little card that they're able to spend, and they get £1 a week from me and Pete that goes into their bank account. And then any extra money they want to have they get through chores.'
Emily listed examples: 'So, you know, they might help me unload the dishwasher. I think I'm a bit stingy, by the way – I'm gonna just caveat with that – because for unloading the dishwasher I would do like 50p. To make their bed, 50p. Put their clothes away, probably 50p. Jobs that are a bit bigger, that will take them more time, maybe £1.'
Teaching the Value of Money
Emily added that she is actually torn about the concept of paying children for chores. She believes kids should help around the house without always receiving monetary rewards, noting that this was her own experience growing up.
She said: 'I'm really torn between teaching them that you shouldn't always get paid to help out your parents, but also wanting to give them that reward. And they love having that bit of spending money, you know, when they go to the shops.'
She emphasized the importance of keeping her children grounded: 'I also like to keep them grounded and not give them extortionate amounts of pocket money, because when they go out to the shops, they're really proud of themselves, and they kind of know the value of money, to buy something for maybe £2 or £3, they can see what's gone into it to get that money. So that's how I think of it, but I think I might be a bit stingy and a bit mean… so let me know what you think.'
